Concealed hinge



April 3, 1956 E. s. IRELAN 2,740,550

CONCEALED HINGE Filed 1- 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 3, 1956 E. s. IRELAN 2,740,550

CONCEALED HINGE Filed Oct. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United rates Patent CONC ALED NG Ellison S.-Irelan, Elginyllh, assignor to Illinois Watch Case Co'., a corporation of Illinois ppli afiqnwgber 195 S alN 2 zcia s. cl m-3s This invention relates to a case which is held together by hinges which are notvisible from the outside of the container. -More particularly, this invention relates to a small metallic case, such as a womans compact, or a cigarette case, in which the hinges are invisible from the outside of the case.

it is an object of this invention to provide a case in which the hinges are entirely on the interior and are invisible from the outside of the case when it isclosed; another .object of the invention is to provide a case in which the hinges which are invisible from the outside of the case arrest the degree of opening of the case at a certain point; a further object of the invention is to provide a case in which one part pivots inward toward the other part during the opening of the case whereby an oflfset pintle hinge serves as a stop member.

Other objects of this inyention will be apparent from the following specification and the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspectivefiviewofa womans-cosmetics compact employingthe novel hinge of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspectiveyicw ofgthe, compact of Fig. l in open positionshowing the hinges .which are mounted entirely on-the inside of the case;

Fig.3 is a top plan view, partially in. section, showing the hinges and also a springwhich maintains the parts of the, as i ope positio Fig.4 isaview, partially insection, showing. the hinges when the, upper portion of thecompact is in vertical p s t o Fig. 5 is an enlarged broken perpective view showing the manner in which one portion of the hinge is fastened to the case;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged broken section showing the hinge in profile and illustrating the movement of one section of the case into the other during the opening thereof; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged broken section showing the posi tion of the two halves of the casing after it has been opened and the hinge is serving as a stop member for one of the parts of the case.

A normal hinge having circular plates has the pintle bearing portion extending beyond the lid, cover or door which it hinges. This type of hinge opens toward the side from which the pintle bearing surface extends. Thus, if a flat plate hinge is used in a locket, compact, cigarette case or similar container, the pintle bearing surface will always be visible from the outside. Obviously, if this surface were on the inside the thickness of the walls of the container would prevent the receptacle from being opened unless there was a sufiicient gap between the two portions of the container to allow for clearance; and if such a gap were present, the container would not have a neat appearance. This invention enables the production of a small receptacle such as a locket or compact in which no hinge is visible from the outside when the article is closed while at the same time the two hinged members are in close contact with each other.

in Fig. 1 a stylized representation of a bird is illustrated. Ihisbirdserves asa womans cosmetics compact. A Wing section 10, i$ spring-,biased to open .up to reveal a cosmetics compartment when a thumb press is pressed. A head section 12 constitutes the handle of a lipstick compartment. The head 12, which may bewithdrawn from thebird has ,the barrel of a lipstick container attached to it. Thehingeawhich are invisible in Fig. 1,

are shown in the sectional view of Fig. 3, and the other figures. The two h'nge plates are not duplicates of each l7 hasendporltions' 1 7a which extend behind the curved portion of the scroll plate lS, between theplate and section ll of the compact case, and which are formed with a hooked configuration to engage notchesl3a cut in the outer edges of each of thescroll plates-13. The central section of thespring 17 is bowed upwardly to conform with the,configuration of section 16 of the compactand portion 17b of the spring engages section 16 biasing the two sections. ofthe compact apart to maintain them in open position.

As may best be seen in; Fig. S the scroll plate 13 is rolled through an arc of approximately 180 and is rounded at the free end to. form I a pintle bearing surface 20. HOW6V6I, aslong as thepintle is olfset from the two surfaces hinged together, the plate 13. need not be in scroll forrn. v Asshown in Figs. 6 and 7 the curved portion of the scroll plate 13 is displaced a short distance from therne mber leto which it is attached. The hinge P at 1 h it in lehea a surf c in m ng a m t wi h .Pin ebea in sutf cezfl t cr l .pl t 13. "The bearing surface of the plate,15 is offset a short distance-from the member 16 to which it is connected as; best shown inFigs. 6 and 7. A pin 21 passes through the pintle bearings-thereby; holding the two" hinge plates in engagement-with-each other.

:The member 16 may be displaced slightly from the member: 134-whiCh iS bevelled as shown at 23. Theaction of.the two memberst14 and 16during-the-time-the compact isrbeinguopened isr best illustrated in Figs. --6 and .-7. .InsFig. 6--'the-compact is-closed and to an -observer on the outside the hinges are invisible. When the catch 11 is tripped the spring 17 forces the compact to open. The motion of the part 16 with reference to the part 14 is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6 immediately after the catch has been tripped. The bevelled portion 23 has enabled the section 16 to slip inside of the member 14 and the compact has started to open. In Fig. 7

the compact has opened fully and reference to the hinge plate 15 in Figs. 6 and 7 shows that it has rotated about in opening. In Fig. 7 the edge of the section 16 has engaged the scroll plate 13 thereby preventing the compact from opening any farther. The reason for offsetting the hinge plates 15 and 13 is now apparent since the degree of opening of the compact is dependent upon the degree of oifset of these members. If it were desired to have the compact open to less than 90 the length of the straight portion 24 of the scroll plate 13 could be decreased thereby enabling the edge of the section 16 to come into contact with the scroll plate 13 before the plate 15 had rotated through an angle as great as 90". Obviously, the scroll plate 13 could be offset still more thereby enabling the compact to open to an angle of more than 90". However, the hinges would soon occupy too much space if the opening angle were increased. Since 90 is as great an opening angle as would normally be desired, the relative sizes shown in Figs. 6 and 7 are believed to be optimum.

As shown in Fig. 6 the pintle bearing 20 is above the plane of the surface of the platform 26 and at an angle with the platform surface of about 5060 with respect to the top of the beveled surface 23. This position of the pintle bearing 20 is satisfactory from the standpoint of clearance of the parts during opening of the case. If the angle is decreased too much the section 16 will impinge upon the section 14 before the case has opened sufficiently. If the angle is increased toomuch the section 16 engages the hinge plate 13 too soon after the case has been opened. The construction of the compact shown is otherwise readily understandable. The opening of the member 16 reveals a mirror 25, a platform 26 and a compartment cover 27 which is opened by release of a catch 28.

For further details of the construction'and operation of the compact disclosed herein, reference may be made to my copending applications Serial Nos. 250,428 and 250,429, copending Vogelman application 250,403 and copending Fritz application 250,415, all filed October 9, 1951, application Serial No. 250,428 having become Patent No. 2,688,814 dated September 14, 1954.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a cosmetics case having a pair of dished mating closure members, a concealed hinge of the character described, comprising: a scroll plate secured to the interior of the wall of one of said members adjacent the edge thereof, said scroll plate having a flat portion extending inwardly from said wall, a curved portion extending upwardly through a substantial angle and beyond the edge of said member, and a pintle bearing surface formed at the free end of said curved portion, there being a notch said second mentioned member, biasing said members to open position.

2. In a cosmetics case having a pair of dished mating members adapted to close on each other to form a closed case, a concealed hinge and stop member of the character described, comprising: a pair of scroll plates secured to the interior of the wall of one of said members adjacent the edge thereof, each of said scroll plates having a fiat portion extending inwardly from said wall in a direction normal thereto, a continuously curved portion extending upwardly through an angle of about 180 and beyond the edge of said member, and a pintle hearing surface formed at the free end of said curved portion, there being a notch cut in the outer edge of each of said scroll plates; and a pair of hinge plates secured to the interior of the wall of the other member, each having a free end spaced inwardly from said Wall and a pintle bearing surface formed at said free end and adapted to cooperate with the pintle bearing surface formed at the end of each of said scroll plates; a pair of pins, one passing through each cooperating pair of pintle bearing surfaces whereby said scroll plates and hinge plates form a pair of hinges for the opening and closing ofsaid members, the edge of said second mentioned member engaging said scroll plates when said members are opened substantially and an elongated spring having two end portions, the end portions extending behind the curved portions of said scroll plates, each end portion being formed to engage said notches and said spring having a central portion engaging said second mentioned member, biasing said members to open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 228,598 Buckley June 8, 1880 293,416 Carter Feb. 12, 1884 480,790 Tangney Aug. 16, 1892 847,717 Althin Mar. 19, 1907 880,892 Lebkuecher Mar. 3, 1908 1,126,217 Hough Jan. 26, 1915 1,505,029 Kellerman Aug. 12, 1924 1,742,718 Moran Jan. 7, 1930 2,114,644 Bennett Apr. 19, 1938 2,129,862 Naert Sept. 13, 1938 2,576,996 Castedello Dec. 4, 1951 

